The Neurodiversiverse: Award Finalist

News

Great news: we’re a finalist for an award!! The 2025 IBPA Book Awards in the “Neurodivergent Communities” category selected The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters as one of three finalists! We’ll find out in mid May whether we’re a gold winner or a silver winner, but either way we’re so pleased to get this wonderful recognition.

You can see the other two finalists at the IBPA Book Awards website.

We hope you’re enjoying your copy! If you loved it, it would help us immensely if you’d post a review where your friends or family can see it! If you’re not sure, Amazon and Goodreads are both fantastic options. Another great option is to go back in time and start a popular and award-winning blog where you can review The Neurodiversiverse glowingly in depth and feature it prominently!

We’re so grateful for all the support from our contributors, backers, and community that enabled us to bring this wonderful book to life.

The staff of Thinking Ink Press hopes this news brings a little spark of joy into your world, no matter what may be happening to it. 💖

Thinking Ink Press awarded a grant from Center for Cultural Innovation

We received a grant!

News

We’re happy to announce that Thinking Ink Press co-founder Liza Olmsted was awarded a Quick Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI). 

Congratulations, Liza!

A photo of a smiling person with teal glasses and a grey shirt standing on a bridge with a stream and a hillside behind them.

Liza is the co-editor of The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters. They are also the editor of Thinking Ink Press’s books Your Writing Matters, Sibling Rivalry, and The Parents’ Guide to Perthes.

In addition to editing, Liza handles several other crucial roles at Thinking Ink Press, all of which are informed by their editorial vision of inclusiveness. They develop author and artist contracts, manage our finances, and they’re our technology lead.

The Quick Grant funds were awarded to help cover the cost for Liza to attend IBPA Publishing University 2025 (Pub U). The Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA) hosts this excellent publishing conference on an annual basis. This year, Pub U will be in St. Paul, MN in May 2025. If you’re also a publisher and going to be there, let us know so Liza can meet you!

Thinking Ink Press is eligible for this grant because of our fiscal sponsorship by the nonprofit organization Independent Arts & Media. We’d like to extend a big thank you to both CCI and IAM!  We’re excited to receive this grant, and we’ll continue to look for more grants and opportunities.

For Awards Consideration... the stories of The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters

SFF Awards Eligibility Post

News

Hello, science fiction fans! It’s awards season in the science fiction community, in which the Hugo, Nebula, and other awards collect eligible works for consideration – generally, stories and novels published in the previous year.

This year, Thinking Ink is proud to highlight the authors in The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, which was published in 2024, making them eligible this year! Among the pieces which are eligible for awards are:

Art

  • “She Weaves Her Web 1A”, an illustration by Edward Michael Supranowicz
  • “LoveHEART”, an illustration by Natasha Von
  • “Chatter”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
  • “Radar”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
  • “Resilience”, an illustration by Vincenzo Cohen
  • “Look”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
  • “Space Encounters”, cover art by Barbara Candiotti
  • “Skeleton in Roses”, an illustration by Natasha Von
  • “Soul Sisters in Autumn”, an illustration by Natasha Von

Poems

  • “When the Aliens Came”, a poem by Avra Margariti
  • “A Conversation with a Xotiran”, a poem by M. A. Dubbs
  • “McCarthy Knew”, a poem by A.J. Dalton
  • “Wi(d)th, De(p)th, Brea(d)th,”, a poem by River
  • “Our connected space”, a poem by Swarit Gopalan
  • “Drifting”, “Scanning”, “Flashin’ Out”, “Infection”, four poems by Chief Red Chef
  • “Hell No!”, four poems by Sid Ghosh
  • “Good Omens”, a poem by River
  • “Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening”, a poem by Crystal Sidell
  • “Flare to Brilliance and Fade”, a poem by J.D. Harlock
  • “Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, a short story-poem by Keiko O’Leary

Short Stories

  • “Music, Not Words”, a story by Ada Hoffmann
  • “The Grand New York Welcome Tour”, a story by Kay Hanifen
  • “The Pipefitter”, a story by Tobias S. Buckell
  • “Impact”, a story by Jasmine Starr
  • “Where is Everybody?”, a story by Anya Leigh Josephs
  • “Shadows of Titanium Rain”, a story by Anthony Francis
  • “The Interview”, a story by Brian Starr
  • “Someone different, like me”, a story by Daan Dunnewold
  • “Scary Monsters, Super Creeps”, a story by Cat Rambo
  • “These Things Never End Well”, a story by Maub Nesor
  • “First Contact”, a story by David Manfre
  • “The Space Between Stitches”, a story by Minerva Cerridwen
  • “Cadre”, a story by Sam Crain
  • “The Cow Test”, a story by Lauren D. Fulter
  • “Gamma Zaria”, a story by Gail Brown
  • “Where Monolithic Minds Can’t Travel”, a story by Akis Linardos
  • “The Zeta Remnant”, a story by M.D. Cooper
  • “Are We Human?”, a story by Brianna Elise
  • “A Hint of Color”, a story by Jody Lynn Nye
  • “Be Your Own Universe”, a story by Kay Alexander
  • “Navigational Aid”, a story by Holly Schofield
  • “Heart-Side Sometimes-Table”, a story by Madeline Barnicle
  • “Trading Partners”, a story by Jennifer R. Povey
  • “Greetings From Earth”, a story by R. S. Mot
  • “Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, a short story-poem by Keiko O’Leary
  • “Primordial Voices”, a story by J. L. Lark
  • “Tangible Things”, a story by Jillian Starr
  • “Meeting of the Branes”, a story by Kiya Nicoll
  • “Meaning Green, Unclear”, a story by Clara Ward
  • “The List-making Habits of Heartbroken Ships”, a story by Stewart C Baker

Note many of these poems are also stories – “A Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, for example, is not only a pantoum, it’s also a story, and “Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening” isn’t just a riff on Robert Frost, it’s also a story too! So please check them out when considering them for a nomination.

To make considering these stories easy on you, we’re offering a 75% discount on The Neurodiversiverse ebook through the end of the month of February! To get your copy of the NDV ebook, click on this link and enter discount code AWARDS2025!

Go Neurodiversiverse!

– Anthony and Liza, editors of the you know.

Thinking Ink Press Awarded a Fiscal Sponsorship

News,

We’re excited to announce that we recently signed an agreement for a fiscal sponsorship with the nonprofit organization Independent Arts & Media (IAM)!

This arrangement makes us eligible for grants, lets us receive tax-deductible donations through IAM’s nonprofit structure, and gives us access to new tools, mentorship, and networking opportunities. 

Our partnership with IAM will help us fulfill our purpose of publishing inclusive books. We’re still Thinking Ink Press and we’re not becoming a nonprofit.

Until this opportunity came up we didn’t even know what fiscal sponsorship was. Wikipedia has a longer explanation if you’re curious to know more.

We’d like to extend special thanks to our publishing mentor Johanna Vondeling, who recommended that we apply for a fiscal sponsorship and then helped us during the application process. Johanna became our mentor through the Innovative Voices Program at the Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA). We learned so much from her! We also appreciate the support from Lisa Burger, the Executive Director at IAM, who answered our many questions and explained all the things that IAM offers.

Check out this cool new widget.

You can also see it in the sidebar on the right.

Clicking the widget takes you to our new Flipcause donation page, which accepts contributions to Thinking Ink Press using IAM’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. IAM will accept, process, and acknowledge contributions to support Thinking Ink Press made via this page. This includes issuing receipts for tax deduction purposes.

Buying Thinking Ink Press books and products—whether through our website, in person, or at bookstores—is still a great way to support our press and our authors directly. Thanks for buying our books! If you feel moved to support our purpose even more, now you can make a tax-deductible donation, thanks to IAM. Only donations through our fiscal sponsor are tax-deductible. 

New Book: The Neurodiversiverse

Book Release, , ,

A Hopeful, Empowering Science Fiction Anthology

“This collection is a dazzling exploration of the extraordinary potential within the neurodivergent mind.” —Erin Garcia, host of the podcast ASK! Autism Support and Knowledge

A book cover of "The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters", a science fiction anthology. Background is stylized art of an astronaut meeting an alien in outer space. Art by Barbara Candiotti.

Do you love science fiction, aliens, or neurodiversity?

Well, you’re in luck: Thinking Ink Press is proud to announce the release of The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, a science fiction anthology available everywhere matter exists, bits are transmitted, and books are sold. 

Buy the book

 

Would neurodiversity be an advantage in an encounter with aliens? Let’s find out!

  • Heartbroken starships.
  • Human-sized hamster balls.
  • Superpowers unleashed by anxiety.
  • A planet covered in mathematical fidgets.
  • And we finally learn why aliens abduct cows.

A diverse, hopeful anthology of neurodiversity-themed science fiction short stories, poetry and art for anyone who loves science fiction, who cares about neurodiversity, or who wants to see optimistic visions of the future.

Featuring stories, poems and art from Tobias S. Buckell, M. D. Cooper, Ada Hoffmann, Jody Lynn Nye, Cat Rambo, and nearly forty other contributors, The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters was edited by Anthony Francis, author of the award-winning urban fantasy novel Frost Moon, and Liza Olmsted, editor of the writing inspiration book Your Writing Matters.

The Neurodiversiverse includes themes of autism, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, synesthesia, several kinds of anxiety, avoidant attachment disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and more. 

You can get The Neurodiversiverse directly from Thinking Ink here on our website, or in the format of your choice at your retailer of choice. 

Buy the book

 

Go Neurodiversiverse!

Kickstarter funded!

News
The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters. Coming soon! Image shows the book on a background that matches the book cover. The book cover shows a figure of an alien and a figure of a human in a space suit, facing each other, on a background of a dark and colorful nebula in space.

Available to order now. Release date: August 6.

Thanks to all of our backers who helped us raise over $8,000! Now we can pay our authors and artists more.

If you missed the campaign, you can still get the book. Preorder now and it will ship by August 6.

3D image including the spine of a book cover of "The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters", a science fiction anthology. Background is stylized art of an astronaut meeting an alien in outer space. Art by Barbara Candiotti.

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters

From: $9.99

 A diverse, hopeful book of neurodiversity-themed science fiction short stories, poetry, and art for anyone who loves science fiction, who cares about neurodiversity, or who wants to see optimistic visions of the future.

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A book cover of "The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters", a science fiction anthology. Background is stylized art of an astronaut meeting an alien in outer space. Art by Barbara Candiotti. Kickstarter “project we love”.

The Neurodiversiverse is a Kickstarter “project we love”!

Kickstarter,

Halfway through our campaign, over two-thirds to our goal!

Our Kickstarter campaign for The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters has already reached over $3,400 of our $5,000 goal, with just over two weeks left! Thank you so much to everyone who’s backed, you’re helping to make sure we’ll be able to pay our authors and artists professional rates!

This is a larger funding goal than we’ve had for any of our past crowdfunding campaigns, so having made it this far is truly wonderful.

Selected as a Kickstarter “project we love”!

Project we love. Kickstarter. Circular badge with a heart in the middle and words around the outside.

Kickstarter has a magical, behind-the-scenes mechanism where someone decides a project is a “project we love”. We don’t know how it happens, but we’re so pleased it happened to us! What it means is that now new people will see the campaign, and may be inspired to back it.

Announcing our stretch goals!

Once the Kickstarter campaign hits its funding goal, that means we’ll get the money that is raised. But if we exceed our goals, we’d love to give our backers more. We’ll unlock additional stretch goals as the amount raised reaches new dollar amounts.

Briefly, our stretch goals are:

  • $7,500 – Bookmarks! We’ll include a bookmark for every backer who’s selected physical rewards.
  • $10,000 – Mystery Swag! We’re really excited about the additional goodies we have planned for backers if we hit $10k – but we’ll announce them when we hit our funding goal of $5,000.
  • $12,500 – Even More Fun Stuff! Ditto! We’re working on secret plans to fill out backers’ goodie bags and digital inboxes, but we’ll announce this stretch goal if we reach our funding goal!
  • $15,000 – Audiobook Edition! We really want to produce an audiobook edition, both because we love audiobooks, and because we know so many readers need an audio edition for accessibility. If we raise this much money, everyone backing for $10 or more will get the digital audiobook when it’s ready.
  • $20,000 – The Neurodiversiverse: Binary Stars! If we hit this amount of money, we’ll not only be able to pay for this book, but also put the rest toward a sequel anthology!

So, please back the Kickstarter campaign to help us achieve our stretch goals, and share it with your friends who love bookmarks, audiobooks, and/or neurodiversity!

You can read all the details about our new stretch goals in our latest campaign update.

Back the Kickstarter campaign!
A book cover of "The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters", a science fiction anthology. Background is stylized art of an astronaut meeting an alien in outer space. Art by Barbara Candiotti.

Our Kickstarter is now live for The Neurodiversiverse

Kickstarter, , , , ,

Why are we running a Kickstarter campaign for The Neurodiversiverse?

We believe that creators should be paid like professionals for their work.

Thinking Ink Press is a small publisher, and we want to increase the amount we’re paying the authors and artists of The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters for their work from “semi-pro” to “SFWA” professional rates. To make that happen, we’re running a Kickstarter campaign!

Backing the Kickstarter campaign at any reward tier will help us a ton, and you’ll be able to get great rewards like a copy of the book (of course!), a vinyl sticker or enamel pin of the snazzy logo designed by Kimchi Kreative, a tote bag, and more!

Books and swag with the Neurodiversiverse logo, designed by Kimchi Kreative.
Books and swag with the Neurodiversiverse logo, designed by Kimchi Kreative.

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters is is a hopeful, empowering sci-fi anthology of short stories, poetry, and art. It’s an #OwnVoices extravaganza with neurodivergent editors, authors, and artists. The anthology offers many different answers to the question: Would neurodiversity be an advantage in an encounter with aliens?

Back the Kickstarter campaign!

Backing now helps our Kickstarter campaign be more visible, enabling us to reach more supporters. We’re a small press, and need your help to reach our ideal readers.